In-store customer service has been previously provided by a sales associate. For instance, in a traditional situation, a customer enters a retail establishment and proceeds to browse and/or purchase items. The customer may have no preconceived notion of what they wish to buy and may utilize in-store assistance and/or advice to make a purchase. In still other situations, the customer may have an idea of the purchase they wish to make, and yet may still rely upon in-store assistance to make additional and/or other purchases based upon any number of factors including the associate's recommendations, sales, advice, etc.
In a traditional online setting, a customer visiting an online store front receives little or no assistance regarding their shopping experience. Thus, in order to enhance the online experience, some online retailers have begun to provide additional enhancements to their shopping experience. For example, some websites provide customers with sales ranking, similar sales, online reviews, textual chats, etc. to assist an online customer in making purchase decisions.
In an offline environment, however, customers traditionally lack buying support other than a traditional in-store assistant. For example, in a typical retail environment, buying support may be provided by multiple actors, such as, for example, floor associates, previously researched reviews and/or product information, and other shoppers present at the same location.
While the background systems and methods identified herein, generally work for their intended purpose, the subject invention provides improvements thereto, particularly by providing a customer with a mobile application that enables a customer to find and communicate with various types of people such as sales associates, social connections, etc., in real time or near real time based upon a customer location and/or a identification of what the customer is looking for.